Sunday, July 22

Britt and I walked to Inkwood Books, the independent bookstore about five blocks from our house, at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday night to pick up my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." I had pre-orded my copy about a month ago.

Britt hasn't read a single word of the Harry Potter books and has only seen some of the films, always at my side. I don't think he was expecting to encounter a crush of people, some dressed as witches and wizards, at the end of our sweltering five-minute walk. He ignored all the talk of snitches and Snape, and found a relatively undisturbed area near the cookbooks, and entertained himself for several minutes until it was time to line up. By 12:05 p.m., I had my copy of the book.

By 12:15 p.m., I was home and had begun devouring the first chapter.

I didn't really keep track of time, but I suppose it took me about 6 or 7 hours to complete the book. I read about half of it in 3 hours that night, slept in until about 10 a.m., and read the rest that afternoon as rain thunder crackled and rain lashed down outside -- fitting sound effects.

I thought the end was satisfying, but I'm not going to write anything else as not to give away any information that could spoil the plot for other readers. I haven't even told Britt how the book ends, hoping to pique his curiosity and, perhaps, entice him into picking up "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and seeing for himself how the whole story begins.

About Me

David Simanoff was 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and 20 inches long at birth. He is now much larger, and sometimes answers to the name Skippy. Many people have said that Mr. Simanoff is the finest haiku writer of his generation, but those people are mostly liars and cannot be trusted.